A courier has told a corruption inquiry that members of former Labor minister Eddie Obeid's family told him a farm he would later buy could quadruple in value.

Sydney Courier company owner Justin Lewis told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that Obeid family members told him there was coal on his farm, Coggan Creek, before he bought it in 2009.

Trying to explain why he made the purchase he said it was not because he had "always wanted to own a farm."

He said his childhood dream was in fact to be a Formula One racing car driver.

Mr Lewis admitted he has rarely been to the farm and has never put stock on it. He said he has never bought a cow, or even a hammer.

Despite paying $3.5 million for the property, he said he did not know if it was used for dairy cattle or for breeding cattle.

The witness admitted that when he was questioned in private ahead of the public inquiry, he made a statement that he thought cows were on the property to "walk around and eat grass".

He also admitted not knowing what the term 'agronomist' means and admitted he knew nothing about the house on the farm he bought.

There was laughter in the public gallery from Bylong Valley landholders who have travelled from the Upper Hunter for the inquiry.

Another witness, Bylong Valley General Store owner Jodie Nancarrow, told the ICAC she had a bizarre phone call from Mr Lewis after he bought Coggan Creek asking for directions about how to get there.

She said it was on a Sunday afternoon and he asked her if she had access to Google Maps.

But Mr Lewis denied not seeing the property before he bought it.

He was then questioned about why he agreed to pay 30 per cent of any profits he made from a coal mining venture to the Obeids.

The ICAC is investigating allegations the Obeid family and their associates stood to profit $100 million from inside knowledge about mining licences in the area issued by then Labor minister Ian Macdonald.

Fairfax Journalist Anne Davies said when she interviewed Eddie Obeid and his son Moses for a story in 2010 they were keen to be seen as being against mining in the Bylong Valley.

She said Eddie Obeid had talked to her about how beautiful his property Cherrydale Park was and how much he loved it.

Anne Davies said Mr Obeid had told her he hoped his farm would be spared from coal mining.

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